A-Infos (en) Italy, FAS Sicilia Libertaria: No moos - The events of Palermo... and those of Niscemi (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On Saturday 2 March the Movement returned to the streets of Niscemi on 
the second anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine to 
reiterate the active role of the NATO and American military bases in 
Sicily in the conflict, but also to support the Palestinian population. 
The initiative was preceded by a flash mob organized by the local 
Tunisian community and some migrant children from the center for 
unaccompanied minors. The main speech was by Antonio Mazzeo, who 
masterfully exposed the picture of Italy's involvement in the Gaza 
massacre, a situation framed in a timely manner, defining the 
responsibilities of the State of Israel and the coverage it enjoys from 
Western governments to the media. His warm speech was often interrupted 
by applause.

The arrest of Luigi Spera on 21 March and the obligation to sign for two 
other activists of the Antudo movement sparked numerous protests; the 
message is clear: actions that in any way could disturb the quiet 
militarist life and above all that could bring to light activities that 
have to do with wars and attacks on populations such as the Kurdish or 
the Palestinian will not be tolerated. The NO MUOS Movement immediately 
issued the following statement:

Solidarity with the comrades of ANTUDO

STATEMENT OF THE NO MOVE MOVEMENT

It was November 2022. The territories of the Autonomous Administration 
of North and East Syria and Southern Kurdistan were heavily bombed by 
Erdogan: in just seven days of attack, there were more than 50 air 
raids, 20 drone bombings, and 3761 heavy artillery attacks. Many squares 
in that period were filled in solidarity with the Kurdish people, 
reiterating that those who arm Erdogan and his genocidal policies are 
also Italian companies. An EU report recorded that between 2018 and 
2020, Italy was the country that exported the most heavy ammunition to 
Turkey (worth over 122 million euros). Leonardo is certainly the company 
that gains the most from the genocide of the Kurdish people: not only 
has it established part of its production in Turkey, but Turkey is 
precisely one of the countries to which Leonardo exports the most 
weapons and systems war (only in 2018, worth more than 300 million euros).

This is why in November 2022 the Leonardo headquarters in Palermo was 
sanctioned, as part of an international solidarity campaign in defense 
of the Kurdish people once again bombed by Erdogan, recognizing among 
those responsible not only the Ankara government, but also the Italian 
state and the entire war industrial sector that profits from wars and 
genocides.

Following that attack, a few months later, on the mandate of the 
District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the apartments of some of Antudo's 
companions were searched, accused of incitement to crime and a terrorist 
act linked to the dissemination of the video and the press release 
relating to the action at Leonardo. This morning the news of the arrest 
of one of Antudo's companions, currently in prison, and of the 
obligation to sign for a partner and a partner, in reference to that 
November 2022 sanction and the disclosure of the news.

We consider this repressive act against them very serious. We recognize 
the role that Leonardo (and other Italian companies, such as Beretta, 
Iveco Defense Vehicle, MBDA Italia, GE Avio, and Simmel Difesa) and the 
Italian state have towards the genocide of the Kurdish and Palestinian 
people. In fact, it is now known that the corvettes of the Israeli navy, 
which already after 7 October played an active role in military 
operations against the Gaza Strip, are armed by Oto Melara, a company 
active in the defense sector and controlled by the group Leonardo.

We have known for some time which side we are on, and today we express 
our deepest solidarity with Antudo's comrades and partner.

On March 20, a drama took place in Niscemi, starring the mayor 
Massimiliano Conti, author of a fiery live broadcast on Facebook after 
finding out about a meeting at the US Marine base to which he had not 
been invited. We report from ANSA:

Due to hydrogeological problems due to the morphology of the territory, 
the land where Muos, the satellite system operating in the American base 
in Niscemi (Caltanissetta), was installed should be consolidated.

To address this and other issues such as that of citizens' health raised 
in the past by the Municipality, after a few years of tension, a 
dialogue was started between all the protagonists, including the 
municipal administration which, however, is now protesting for the lack 
of involvement in a meeting that took place yesterday in the American 
base in the presence of the Undersecretary of Defense Matteo Perego, the 
parliamentarian Stefania Craxi and the Sicilian Region's Environment 
Councilor Elena Pagana.

The mayor then dusted off the protest paraphernalia (the pandering one 
always available for compromises and compensations) to demonstrate his 
disappointment. Here is his speech as reported by Today24: "Nothing has 
transpired about the motivation and object of the meeting - says the 
mayor of Niscemi Massimiliano Conti - A serious and unacceptable fact is 
the lack of involvement in that meeting which could have given the right 
coordinates and put forward the right concerns of the entire community. 
Over the years, citizens - he states - have shown profound discomfort 
and concern for the presence of the military installation, now 
operational for over 10 years, without any certainty of health data and 
without regard on health data regarding the incidence of pathologies on 
the population. I therefore hope for a serious and constraining 
discussion on electromagnetic monitoring and pollution activities, as 
well as general health screening of the population. Nonetheless, the 
total loss of value of a large swathe of territory and, more generally 
of the entire municipal territory, was verified, precisely because it is 
the site of a significant military installation. And also in 
consideration of the bad publicity that has emerged over the last 15 
years. Furthermore, the failure to foresee every minimum improvement 
intervention in the area on the health, social and economic fronts makes 
the development of the community even more costly. Lastly, I register 
and point out the failure to activate every issue identified in the 
protocol between the Ministry of Defense and the Region dating back to 
2011. One might say "waste paper" but certainly not for the community. 
In any case, I hope for clarification on the Muos issue soon."

The honorable Northern League member from Modica Nino Minardo had 
«suggested to Undersecretary Perego to avoid further visits to Muos in 
the absence of concrete responses to the territory». And he criticized 
his centre-right colleagues: "It would have been more appropriate to 
avoid initiatives of this type which, although legitimate, are 
susceptible to less than benevolent interpretations, considering the 
sensitivity of the issues."

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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